Every Day with Jesus (23 page)

Healing isn’t “out there” somewhere. God’s healing virtue is already inside of you. Jesus doesn’t have to come and place His mighty hand on you to heal you because by His stripes you were already healed. (1 Peter 2:24.) You just have to believe it, speak it in faith, act upon your confession of faith, and expect it to manifest in your physical body.

Ask the Lord today for a revelation of what is really yours in Christ Jesus. Quit trying to get what you already have and enjoy your inheritance.

August 9: Compel Them to Come

Luke 14:16-24

Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many… And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Luke 14:16,23

The man who made the supper represents God who has invited “whosoever will” to come to dine (have a close relationship) with Him. The parable teaches that it is not God who fails to offer salvation to people, but rather it is the invited guests who reject His offer.

The people in Jesus’ parable had feeble excuses, and they were no different from the excuses of people today. All of the excuses had to do with their material wealth or family obligations being more important than a relationship with God. As a result, the master told his servant to go out and ask the poor, the homeless, and the downtrodden to come-and they did.

The Lord’s marriage supper of the Lamb will be full of “undesirables” from the world’s point of view, but not because God rejected the upper classes; it will be because they rejected Him. Those who have an abundance of this world’s possessions don’t tend to recognize their need for God as much as those who are without. God also offered salvation to the Jews first, but as a whole they refused Him; so He sent His servants to the Gentiles to fill His kingdom.

This parable proves the Lord does not advocate using force to convert people to Christianity. He respects the free will of all people to either accept or reject Him. However, He admonishes us to compel them to come by persuasion and love. The word compel denotes aggressiveness, so we are not supposed to simply hang out our “shingle” and wait for the world to come to us. We are supposed to aggressively pursue them with the Good News.

You are urgently commanded to be a witness of the love and redemption of Jesus Christ because the time before His return is short. Do not waste any opportunity today to share the Good News with someone!

August 10: The Cost of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

Luke 14:28

The parable of the man building a tower is a continuation of Jesus’ teaching about what it takes to be His disciple. This parable stresses commitment. Jailhouse religion, where a person is only sorry they got caught and are just trying to get out of a bad situation, will not produce true discipleship. They must forsake all to be Jesus’ disciple, and He is simply saying, “Count the cost.”

Jesus’ teaching on discipleship emphasizes steadfast loyalty and faithfulness to Him before anyone or anything else. Just as a king wouldn’t engage in war without thoroughly considering all the possible outcomes, no one should attempt to become a disciple of Jesus without counting the cost. It would be better not to follow Him at all than to begin, experience some unexpected hardship, and then turn back.

When a person first comes to Jesus, it is impossible to know everything that following Him might entail. No one, however, should be afraid of making a total commitment to Him because of all the what ifs that may never happen. All they have to do is take one look at the Cross to know that Jesus can get them through anything!

Have you begun following Jesus and then turned back a few times? Perhaps today is the day you should sit down, count the cost, and make that solid commitment that no matter what life throws at you, you will continue to trust Him and follow Him. I promise that once you make that decision, He will live through you (Gal. 2:20) in an amazing way. You will experience a strength that is not your own but equal to whatever test you encounter.

August 11: Hard Knocks or God’s Word?

Luke 15:11-17

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

Luke 15:17

God’s Word makes it clear that the wages of sin is death. (Rom. 6:23.) Romans 1:18-20 reveals that even those who don’t know God’s Word have an intuitive knowledge of right and wrong and God’s judgment against sin. Therefore, for anyone to live in sin, as depicted by this prodigal son, they have to be deceived. This is exactly what the Bible says is the case in 2 Corinthians 4:4. When Jesus said, “He came to himself,” He was referring to the deception being removed and the son’s spiritual eyes being opened.

Like this story of the prodigal, tragedy often brings people out of deception and back to their senses. It’s not that God sends the tragedy. God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, “Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee” (Jer. 4:18). However, tragic situations do clearly illustrate that “it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23), and they can cause us to look somewhere else for help. Although turning to God is always beneficial, hard knocks are not the best teacher.

Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” God’s Word was given for reproof and correction, and if we will submit to it, we can “be perfect, thoroughly furnished,” without having to experience tragedy first.

Today you can be taught, corrected, and instructed by God’s Word. In this way you can make good decisions that will avoid failure and calamity and not only give you success and joy but bless those around you.

August 12: Life-Changing Repentance

Luke 15:18-19

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.

Luke 15:18

This is a good example of true repentance. This son did not claim any goodness of his own or try to justify his actions. Instead, he humbled himself and appealed to the mercy of his father. Likewise, we cannot approach God in self-righteousness; we have to humble ourselves, put all of our faith in the Savior, and turn from our wicked ways. (2 Chr. 7:14.) That is true repentance—changing our mind and heart inwardly that then changes our attitude and actions outwardly.

Repentance is a necessary part of salvation. In another devotion (April 30) I talk in more detail about the difference between godly sorrow and ungodly sorrow. This young man had godly sorrow about his actions, and his godly sorrow led to repentance. Ungodly sorrow, or the sorrow of this world, is self-centered and just brings self-pity and a victim mentality that blames everyone else for their problems. With that mindset, of course, there will be no repentance; and without repentance, there can be no restoration to the Father.

This young man felt bad about his sins and recognized that he had sinned against both his natural father and his heavenly Father. That was the beginning of his full restoration to both of them. Today, as you seek the Lord, don’t let anything stand between you and Him. If you have godly sorrow about anything, take it to Him and be forgiven and cleansed of it forever. It will change your day-and the rest of your life!

August 13: The Father’s Love

Luke 15:20

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

Luke 15:20

For this boy’s father to have seen him “a great way off,” would imply that the father had been eagerly awaiting his son’s return. Certainly, in the spiritual application of this parable, our heavenly Father longs to cleanse and receive any sinner. All they have to do is just repent and come to Him for forgiveness.

Jesus used this parable to rebuke the Pharisees for their harsh, self-righteous, unforgiving attitude toward sinners. The older brother in this parable was symbolic of the Pharisees and all religious people who believe their good works earn their salvation and acceptance with God. Like this older brother, the Pharisees had not lived an outward life of rebellion, and they thought that others who didn’t measure up to their standards were surely hated by God.

But the Word says, “God so loved the world,” and “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” These and other scriptures reveal the heart of the Father toward sinners. He just wants them to come home! He wants relationship with them restored so that He can be involved in their lives and bless them. He loves sinners.

The repentant prodigal son had learned the vanity of materialism and immorality, and he had come home to a relationship with his father that neither he nor his older brother had known before. What is the condition of your relationship with the Father today? If you need to be restored to Him in any way, His arms are open wide, and He longs for you to run to Him right now.

August 14: Do the Right Thing for the Right Reason

Luke 15:25-28

And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.

Luke 15:28

If relationship with his father had been the greatest desire of the older brother, he would have rejoiced to see his father restored to his other son. The joy that gave his father would have brought tears of joy to his own eyes. Furthermore, if this elder son had had any compassion for his brother, he also would have rejoiced at his return just like his father did. Instead, he was totally self-centered (that’s pride) and became angry. This illustrates Proverbs 13:10, which says, “Only by pride cometh contention.”

This elder brother was proud because he thought he was better than his younger brother, and we can’t love and respect someone we think is beneath us. Some people are better athletes than others. Some are better businessmen than others. Some are better speakers than others, and so forth. This is an ungodly comparison. (2 Cor. 10:12.) We need to recognize that our accomplishments don’t make us better—or worse—than others. God doesn’t value us or define us by what we do; He looks at our hearts and why we do what we do.

Better performance does not make a better person. A person’s character can be severely wanting even though their performance is good. A classic example of this was this older brother. He did all the right things for all the wrong reasons. Inside he was corrupt and selfish. He performed righteously to get his father’s favor and eventually his fortune.

Why do you do what you do? What is your real motivation for wanting to excel in some gift, talent, or skill? Today ask the Lord to show you any area of endeavor where you are doing the right thing for the wrong reason. If there is something, don’t get under condemnation for it! Just repent (change your mind and attitude), and move forward to do the right thing for the right reason.

August 15: Blessed to Be a Blessing

Luke 16:1-18

And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

Luke 16:1

The unjust steward was covetous. He had not been faithful to his master or to his master’s debtors. He had wasted his master’s goods on himself. When found out, his self-serving nature considered the options and decided there had to be a change. He decided to use his lord’s money to make friends so that when he was fired, he would have someone to help him.

His master was apparently wealthy enough that he didn’t take offense at the steward’s discounting of the debts owed to him, but rather he commended the steward. He didn’t commend his dishonest ways, but he was commending the fact that he had finally used his lord’s money to plan for the future instead of wasting it on himself. Although the steward was motivated by what he would ultimately gain, there was prudence in his actions. This was lacking before.

In this sense, Jesus said the children of this world (lost people) are wiser than the children of light (born-again people) because they plan for the future. Jesus told us to use money (the unrighteous mammon) to make friends that would receive us into “everlasting” habitations. The use of the word everlasting denotes that Jesus is now talking about our eternal future. The people who have been saved and blessed by our investments in the kingdom of God will literally receive us into our everlasting home when we pass on to be with the Lord.

God gave you your material possessions, so you are actually a steward of His resources. He gave you this wealth to establish His covenant on the earth—not so you could consume it upon your own lusts. Today, use your money and possessions with this in mind: You have been blessed to be a blessing.

August 16: The Right Righteousness

Luke 16:14-15

And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Luke 16:15

Justification is not something to be earned but a gift to be received. Seeking to earn salvation is the only sin that will prevent a person from being saved. You cannot submit yourself to the righteousness of God, which comes as a gift through faith, as long as you are seeking to establish your own righteousness.

Most people are unaware that there are two kinds of righteousness. Only one type of righteousness is acceptable to God. There is our righteousness, which is our compliance with the Law; and there is God’s righteousness, which is a gift through our faith. Our righteousness is imperfect because our fallen nature is incapable of fulfilling the Law; but God’s righteousness is perfect because Jesus fulfilled all the Law.